Suunnista Juhalle means "Orienteer for Juha". Juha Heinonen was an active member of SMOC who was diagnosed with kidney cancer at age 46 last June and passed away October 30, 2007. As a young man, Juha was a champion orienteer in his native county of Finland, serving on the Finnish national team in the early 1980s. He emigrated to the United States in 1989, where he became a mathematics professor at the University of Michigan and a devoted husband to Karen Smith. They have three children: a daughter Sanelma (age 10) and boy-girl twins Tapio and Helena (age 4). He continued orienteering as a hobby here in the US for many years and was a standard fixture SMOC and regional champion. He traveled around the US for the championship nearly every year, often placing in his age-group. In 2000, he won first place in both the US and the North American championship. He also usually ran the world-famous "Seitseman Veljasta", an all-night 7-man orienteering relay each summer in Finland, and was well-known also in the Bay Area Orienteering Club when he was in Berkeley for a sabbatical in 2002 and 2003. He set many SMOC courses over the years and helped arrange map-makers from Finland to come make new maps for the club.

A mathematics conference was held in Juha's memory in Ann Arbor May 12 to 16, 2008. In conjunction with this, Al Newman agreed to organize an orienteering meet in Juha's memory. Juha had introduced several of his math colleagues to the sport over the years, and many of the younger generation of mathematicians wanted to try it too. Over 20 mathematicians participated in the "Suunnistus Juhalle" last Saturday at Peach Mountain, and by all accounts, they had a fantastic time.

"Suunnista Juhalle" T-shirts are still available if anyone would like to purchase one from Karen for $10. Write to kesmith@umich.edu.